[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 40, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 40CFR8.4]
[Page 153-155]
TITLE 40--PROTECTION OF ENVIRONMENT
CHAPTER I--ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
PART 8_ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF NONGOVERNMENTAL ACTIVITIES
IN ANTARCTICA--Table of Contents
Sec. 8.4 Preparation of environmental documents, generally.
(a) Basic information requirements. In addition to the information
required pursuant to other sections of this part, all environmental
documents shall contain the following:
(1) The name, mailing address, and phone number of the operator;
(2) The anticipated date(s) of departure of each expedition to
Antarctica;
(3) An estimate of the number of persons in each expedition;
(4) The means of conveyance of expedition(s) to and within
Antarctica;
(5) Estimated length of stay of each expedition in Antarctica;
(6) Information on proposed landing sites in Antarctica; and
(7) Information concerning training of staff, supervision of
expedition members, and what other measures, if any, that will be taken
to avoid or minimize possible environmental impacts.
(b) Preparation of an environmental document. Unless an operator
determines and documents that a proposed activity will have less than a
minor or transitory impact on the Antarctic environment, the operator
will prepare an IEE or CEE in accordance with this part. In making the
determination what level of environmental documentation is appropriate,
the operator should consider, as applicable, whether and to what degree
the proposed activity:
(1) Has the potential to adversely affect the Antarctic environment;
(2) May adversely affect climate or weather patterns;
(3) May adversely affect air or water quality;
(4) May affect atmospheric, terrestrial (including aquatic),
glacial, or marine environments;
(5) May detrimentally affect the distribution, abundance, or
productivity of species, or populations of species of fauna and flora;
(6) May further jeopardize endangered or threatened species or
populations of such species;
(7) May degrade, or pose substantial risk to, areas of biological,
scientific, historic, aesthetic, or wilderness significance;
(8) Has highly uncertain environmental effects, or involves unique
or unknown environmental risks; or
(9) Together with other activities, the effects of any one of which
is individually insignificant, may have at least minor or transitory
cumulative environmental effects.
(c) Type of environmental document. The type of environmental
document required under this part depends upon the nature and intensity
of the environmental impacts that could result from the activity under
consideration. A PERM must be prepared by the operator to document the
conclusion of the operator's preliminary environmental review that the
impact of a proposed activity on the Antarctic environment will be less
than minor or transitory. (See Sec. 8.6.) An IEE must be prepared by
the operator for proposed activities which may have at least (but no
more than) a minor or transitory impact on
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the Antarctic environment. (See Sec. 8.7.) A CEE must be prepared by
the operator if an IEE indicates, or if it is otherwise determined, that
a proposed activity is likely to have more than a minor or transitory
impact on the Antarctic environment (See Sec. 8.8.)
(d) Incorporation of information, consolidation of environmental
documentation, and multi-year environmental documentation. (1) An
operator may incorporate material into an environmental document by
referring to it in the document when the effect will be to reduce
paperwork without impeding the review of the environmental document by
EPA and other federal agencies. The incorporated material shall be cited
and its content briefly described. No material may be incorporated by
referring to it in the document unless it is reasonably available to the
EPA.
(2) Provided that environmental documentation complies with all
applicable provisions of Annex I to the Protocol and this part and is
appropriate in light of the specific circumstances of the operator's
proposed expedition or expeditions, an operator may include more than
one proposed expedition within one environmental document and one
environmental document may also be used to address expeditions being
carried out by more than one operator provided that the environmental
document indicates the names of each operator for which the
environmental documentation is being submitted pursuant to obligations
under this part.
(e) Multi-year environmental documentation. (1) Provided that
environmental documentation complies with all applicable provisions of
Annex I to the Protocol and this part, an operator may submit
environmental documentation for proposed expeditions for a period of up
to five consecutive austral summer seasons, provided that the conditions
described in the multi-year environmental document, including the
assessment of cumulative impacts, are unchanged and meets the provisions
of paragraphs (e)(1) (i) through (iii) of this section.
(i) The operator shall identify the environmental documentation
submitted for multi-year documentation purposes in the first year it is
submitted. If the operator, or operators, fail to make this initial
identification to EPA, this provision shall not be in effect although
subsequent years' submissions by the operator, or operators, may use
this environmental documentation as provided in paragraphs (d) (1) and
(2) of this section.
(ii) In subsequent years, up to a total maximum of five years, the
operator, or operators, shall reference the multi-year documentation
identified initially if it is necessary to update the basic information
requirements listed in paragraph (a) of this section.
(iii) An operator, or operators, may supplement a multi-year
environmental document for an additional activity or activities by
providing information regarding the proposed activity in accordance with
the appropriate provisions of this part. The operator, or operators,
shall identify this submission as a proposed supplement to the multi-
year documentation in effect. Addition of the supplemental information
shall not extend the period of the multi-year environmental
documentation beyond the time period associated with the documentation
as originally submitted.
(2) Multi-year environmental documentation may include more than one
proposed expedition within the environmental document and the multi-year
environmental document may also be used to address expeditions being
carried out by more than one operator provided that the environmental
document indicates the names of each operator for which the
environmental documentation is being submitted pursuant to obligations
under this part.
(3) The schedules for multi-year environmental documentation depend
on the level of the environmental document and shall be the same as the
schedules for comparable environmental documentation submitted on an
annual basis; e.g., a multi-year PERM shall comply with the schedule in
Sec. 8.6, a multi-year IEE shall comply with the schedule in Sec. 8.7,
and a multi-year CEE shall comply with the schedule in Sec. 8.8. These
schedules apply to the operator's submission of the initial multi-year
environmental document; the operator's subsequent annual submissions
pursuant to paragraphs (e)(1) (ii) and (iii) of
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this section; EPA's review, in consultation with other interested
federal agencies, and comment on the multi-year environmental
documentation and subsequent annual submissions; and a finding the EPA
may make, with the concurrence of the National Science Foundation, that
the environmental documentation submitted does not meet the requirements
of Article 8 and Annex I of the Protocol and the provisions of this
part.
